No small matter

A small revolution is remaking the world. The only problem is, we can't see it. Images and descriptions reveal the virtually invisible realities and possibilities of nanoscience. An introduction to the science and technology of small things. An overview of recent scientific advances that have given us our ever-shrinking microtechnology - for instance, an information processor connected by wires only 1,000 atoms wide. New methods are described that are used to study nanostructures, suggest ways of understanding their often bizarre behavior, and outline their uses in technology. The various…